Active Wellbeing Pilot Project
The Active Wellbeing Event was generated and supported through a partnership of the Age Concern Eastern Region Fitter Futures Project, Peterborough City Council’s Sports Services Team and Peterborough College of Adult Education. The event spanned the weekend of the 6th and 7th January 2007 and provided adults of all ages across the city with the opportunity to try free taster sessions in a variety of activities including jazz tap, Tai Chi, ballroom dancing, yoga, Indian head massage, netball, short tennis, health walks and volleyball. Free health checks and gym inductions were also offered. The events took place at three venues across the city, at two venues on Saturday 6th (Peterborough College of Adult Education, Brook Street and Bushfield Leisure Centre) and at one venue on Sunday 7th (Werrington Leisure Centre).
The aim of the Active Wellbeing project was to encourage adults (including those in midlife) to try a variety of activities which would contribute to holistic wellbeing through physical activity and lifelong learning, and to encourage continued engagement in these activities by promoting subsequent courses and programmes of physical activity sessions.
Intended Outcomes
· An increased awareness among adults in Peterborough of activities and courses provided by the Sports Services Team and the College of Adult Education.
· Increased participation in physical activity and sports through a repeatable programme of activity sessions for adults at various times including daytime, early evening and weekend sessions (subject to take up and demand).
· An increased number of sports / activity coaching hours being delivered to adults.
· Increased enrolment in health and wellbeing courses provided by the College, both at their main centre and on courses delivered in their outreach centres.
· Increased uptake of the Sports Services ‘Active Card’, providing discounts at all of their leisure centres and at various other participating activity centres.
· Ongoing partnership working between the Sports Services Team and the Adult Education College via delivery of Adult Learning Activities such as Tai Chi, Indian Head Massage and Yoga in the leisure centres, to attract a new audience into the leisure centres and to promote courses offered by the college.
The event was designed with the aims of all three partner organisations taken into consideration which were:
· Fitter Futures – to increase participation in physical activity by people in midlife (approx 45-60 yrs)
· Peterborough City Council Sports Services Team – to develop their services to appeal to a greater proportion of the adult population.
· Peterborough College of Adult Education – to encourage new people into the college and to promote courses available through the college.
Project Development
It was decided to hold the event at the beginning of January as this provided the best fit with existing Sports Services Team activities and would allow the College to promote their courses for the new year which commenced the following week. It was also felt that an event at this time of year would capitalise on people’s ‘good intentions’ for the New Year possibly following an indulgent Christmas!
College Activities
The College provided a day of taster activities from 10 till 3 on Saturday 6th January at their main Brook Street centre within Peterborough City Centre. The activities on offer included Tai Chi, Jazz Tap, Yoga, Ballroom Dancing and Indian Head Massage, which each taking place once throughout the day. Each activity was free to the public, commenced on the hour and lasted for approximately 45 minutes.
Leisure Centre Activities
The Sports Services Team provided two days of taster activities; at Bushfields Leisure Centre on Saturday 6th and at the Werrington Leisure Centre on Sunday 7th,both days ran from 10 till 4. The activities on offer included volleyball, health walks, netball and short tennis. Free gym inductions and health checks were also advertised. The activities were repeated twice throughout the day taking place once in the morning and then again in the afternoon, with each session scheduled to last around 45 minutes. Again all of the activities were free to the public.
Promotion and Marketing Activities
As well as the distribution of posters and fliers widely across the city at different venues and via mail shot to all GP practices, the event was also promoted in a variety of editorials, with Life Long Learning representatives within various businesses (predominantly organised by the College) and on various websites. These included:
· A feature on page 3 of the college prospectus. 15,000 copies printed with 10,000 door dropped around villages surrounding the City e.g. Bainton, Barnack, Werrington and Hampton.
· Peterborough Citizen newspaper wraparound. The event poster was replicated on the back page of a college wraparound that appeared on the 30th November edition of the Peterborough Citizen. Circulation: 60,000. (This was a paid advert, cost of space for Active Wellbeing Event information £250)
· Information about the event was piggy-backed mailed to 500 college students to invite them to the event.
· Information was sent to various Lifelong Learning Representatives for organisations including Peterborough City Council, Perkins Engines and Cross Key Homes
· Information was sent to the Editor of Peterborough City Council's Information Bulletin (circulated to 6,000 PCC staff)
· Sent to the Tourist Information Centre for inclusion on their website
· Sent to the Editor of the Guide (Evening Telegraph)
· Article appeared in the December edition of ESP magazine (free, lifestyle magazine circulated around the city)
· Full page advertisement in the 21st December edition of City Guide in the Evening Telegraph (cost £250)
Participation
There was a mixed response to the Active Wellbeing Event, with the greatest success and participation observed at the Adult Education College.
· 60 people took part directly in the activities held at the college, 37 of these people were new learners to the college. Each activity averaged 20 – 30 participants with some people taking part in more than one activity.
· Of the 60 participants 58 provided their date of birth; the average of the participants was 49. The majority of participants were in their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s showing that these activities effectively reached the target midlife group.
· The majority of participants identified themselves as white British (77%) and (82%) were female.
· 7% of the participants identified themselves as having a disability.
· Most people stated they had heard about the event via a newspaper (35%) or through a friend or relative (20%). 10% stated they had heard about the event via a poster and 8% at their workplace.
· In total 25 participants went on to enrol on courses taking place after the event (including 13 of the new learners). 16 of these 25 participants enrolled on courses directly related to physical activity including Yoga, Tai Chi, Jazz Tap and Ballroom Dance. The college were able to fill their yoga course, which was a new course to the college.
The activities at the leisure centres unfortunately were not well attended and insufficient interest was received to support the Sports Services Team in providing follow on sessions at the leisure centres. Several factors may have contributed to this and are identified in the learning points below.
Learning Points
The event was successful in attracting the midlife target group to take part in activities provided at the Adult Education College but not at the leisure centres, there are several factors which may have influenced this:
· The Adult Education College occupies a much more central location in Peterborough then either of the leisure centres where activities were taking place. The participants may also have felt more comfortable attending a location identified as a place of learning for adults such as the college rather than a leisure centre, which may have been a barrier in itself.
· The College supported the event by arranging for a lot of the promotion and marketing to be placed in different media and workplaces across Peterborough using their existing networks. However, reviewing the promotional material following the event it was clear that there was a much stronger emphasis on the college activities being provided than the leisure centre activities. With this in mind it is important to ensure that sufficient planning time is allowed and processes in place to ensure promotion and marketing activities are agreed by all partners and that project partners are committed to all aspects of the project.
· The activities held at the college were those more traditionally associated with activities the target group might take part in, with a focus on dance and gentler movements. The weather was also particularly wet therefore activities such as health walks were at a distinct disadvantage.
· Despite some of the challenges experienced 27% of people who participated went on to enrol on physical activity courses which will have resulted in a sustained period of physical activity participation for those individuals.
· This figure may have been higher if more follow on activities had been available to those participating in the taster sessions at times they could participate. This was evidenced by feedback from some participants attending the taster ballroom sessions who ultimately declined to take part as there were no follow on evening or weekend sessions available to them. When providing taster sessions it is an important consideration to ensure regular sessions will be available at times the target group will be able to attend.
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